Decline in German DAX leads European equities lower

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Friday,
led lower by a drop in Germany's DAX index, as new
signs of violence in Ukraine weighed on stock markets which had
been buoyed this week by corporate takeover activity.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which hit
a near 6-year high of 1,355.29 points earlier this month, fell
0.4 percent to 1,338.61 points in early session trading.

Germany's DAX and Austria's ATX equity index, which
was down by 0.4 percent, have been the most impacted by the
crisis in Ukraine since German and Austrian companies are among
the most exposed in Europe to Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels on
Thursday and Russia launched army drills near the border in
response.

Seven people were also injured overnight at a pro-Ukrainian
checkpoint near Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa when an
explosive device blew up, local police said on Friday.

"I'm a seller here. The DAX has got the legs to come off
down to 9,250 points," said Darren Courtney-Cook, head of
trading at Central Markets Investments Management.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Blaise Robinson)